The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 343

Chapter 343:

A Wonderful Friend

“Thank you very much for squeezing us in today.”

It was the day after Ashley told us that Captain Tabulo wanted to meet Ciel, and the captain really had come. Druid and I had predicted that he just might join us the very next day, and we were right. Ashley looked extremely tired as he stood next to the captain, and I thought maybe it was best not to mention it. As I stared at him, our eyes met, and he gave me the most pitiful smile I’d ever seen. Oh dear, did Captain Tabulo give him a very hard time? For that matter, does he give everyone under his command a very hard time?

“It’s quite all right,” Druid assured him. “Was it easy getting time off work, Captain Tabulo?”

“Er…yes.”

The pause before he said “yes” was very suspicious indeed. Druid had a pained smile on his face, and I knew I was probably making a similar expression.

“Anyway…” Captain Tabulo looked over at Ciel, and his reaction was…well, much like everyone else who had met Ciel. His eyes were sparkling.

“This is Ciel, my adandara.”

“Er, nice to meet you, Ciel.”

Mrrrow.

“Wow…an adandara just said hello to me,” he whispered to me as I stood next to Ciel.

What should I say back…?

Captain Tabulo reached out carefully, but his fingertips stopped just short of Ciel.

“Um, may I touch your adandara?”

“Ciel, is it okay if he touches you?”

Mrrrow.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you very much.”

Captain Tabulo’s hand slowly moved out to touch Ciel. At a closer look, his hand was trembling slightly. I glanced at his face, and he was clearly in awe. I quietly slipped away from them and joined Druid.

“Do forgive me. I just didn’t think he’d come visit so soon,” Ashley apologized to us.

“Don’t worry, it’s exactly what we were expecting,” Druid ­answered with a laugh, and I could practically see the nervousness melting out of Ashley.

Satisfied from the couple of pats he had given Ciel, Captain Tabulo walked back over to us. Sora and the other slimes were merrily frolicking behind him.

“Was it everything you hoped it would be, sir?”

“Yes, thank you so much. And I’m sorry I got so flustered.”

“It’s all right. Just please keep this a secret, okay?”

“Oh, of course. In fact, I drew up a contract.”

Again with the contracts? Every time another person meets Ciel, my collection of contracts gets thicker and thicker. Druid read the document over and nodded in approval, so it was probably all right, but I skimmed it anyway for good measure. Captain Tabulo promised not to tell any third parties about Ciel, and if he broke his promise, the punishment and compensation amount were detailed at the bottom.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Druid and I signed the contract and handed Captain Tabulo his copy. Then he took a magic item out of his magic bag. It was a rectangular board about forty centimeters long with a long hole carved into it. He put the contract and a blank sheet of paper into the item, and the blank paper came back out with writing all over it. Captain Tabulo checked over the papers, then handed one to Druid. I looked at Druid’s document, and it really was identical to the contract we had just signed. The only difference was the word “copy” written on the upper-righthand corner.

“What an unusual item you have there, sir.”

“I’ve had it for ages, but this type of thing is rather hard to find. You can only get it from monsters deep inside caves.”

Monsters deep inside caves… That must mean it’s a very expensive item.

“There are bigger items that do the same thing, of course, but you can’t carry them around.”

“Are they really that big, sir?” I asked.

“I’m sure you’ll see for yourself whenever you go into a guild or the village watch.”

Really? Wait, does that mean I’ve already seen one?

“You mean those big white box thingies at guilds and village watch stations?” Druid asked.

I thought back to the guilds we’d been to. Big white box thingies? Come to think of it, yeah, every guild and watch station I’ve been to has had one of those.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re thinking of,” Captain Tabulo said. “They work the same way as this magic item, but they’re quite big and heavy.”

So they’re heavy, too? They must be difficult to move.

“Also, I wanted to thank you for taking care of our Watchman Ashley here.” Captain Tabulo cast a soft glance over at Ashley, who was petting Ciel.

“Oh, it’s no problem, sir. Ciel seems to like being with him, too.” 

“That’s good to hear. By the way, I’ve been noticing a most peculiar thing for quite some time now…” Captain Tabulo’s gaze shifted over to Sora and Flame, who were frolicking around us. Sol was still asleep in my bag.

“Those are my tamed slimes, Sora and Flame.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

Sora and Flame had been behaving themselves while Captain Tabulo got his fill of Ciel. But they seemed to have realized that he was done because now they were frolicking all around us.

“They’re both rare, aren’t they?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve never seen slimes with such pretty colors before.”

Sora’s half-transparent blue body and Flame’s half-transparent red body were glittering in the sunlight.

“So you’ve tamed an adandara and two rare slimes. Miss Ivy, your taming powers are quite extraordinary.”

Captain Tabulo’s words of praise confused me. My powers were extraordinary? I thought back, but nothing special came to mind. And besides, Sora is technically the only one I actually tamed. Flame’s taming symbol was…inherited? Is that the right word? Inherited from Sora. And as for Ciel…what about Ciel? How would I even describe that…? Ciel accepted me as its master? That doesn’t feel quite right. Hmmm…well, anyway, I didn’t tame Ciel. So I feel like my powers aren’t all that special.

“Is something wrong, Miss Ivy?”

“Huh?! Oh, er, no, sir. It’s just that my powers are not at all extraordinary. They’re all just very gentle.”

“They’re all gentle?”

“Yes, sir.”

I looked over at my creatures. Sora and Flame certainly looked like they were teasing Ashley for the way he was petting Ciel, and Ciel was looking on in amusement. Wait a minute… Is it just me, or is Ashley basically a sort of plaything to Sora and Flame?

“It looks like Sora and Flame have taken a liking to Watchman Ashley,” Druid said. “They’re definitely teasing him.”

I just had to chuckle. Hey, guys, could you at least not bounce on top of Ashley’s head? Well, then again, he seems to like it.

“Watchman Ashley seems to be enjoying it as well.” Captain Tabulo looked a bit envious.

“Agh!” Ashley yelped.

I looked over to see Ciel leaning on Ashley. He had frozen in shock for a moment, but he quickly came to and gave Ciel a piece of his mind.

“What a wonderful friend Watchman Ashley has made. Ciel has given him a level of care no therapist ever could.”

I didn’t understand emotional trauma very well, but maybe playing with Ciel was a good way of treating it? I wondered whether Sora and Ciel knew that. They’d both seemed incredibly interested in Ashley from the start.

“Sora, Flame, and Ciel all like Watchman Ashley a lot,” I said.

Captain Tabulo moaned a little when I said that. “I’m very happy for him…but truthfully, I’m jealous.”

Aha! His true colors are out.

Druid gave Captain Tabulo’s shoulder a couple of pats.

“You’re so lucky to travel with them, Mr. Druid,” Captain Tabulo said.

“Yeah…it’s a fun time with all sorts of new experiences.”

“If only Ciel could stay in town, then I could visit whenever I had the time. But I could never give permission for such a powerful adandara to stay in our village.”

“Oh, but sir, we’re all staying in the village together.”

“Huh?!”

“Ack!”

I’d messed up. We hadn’t decided whether to tell him or not, and I went and blabbed. I looked at Druid…and he was laughing. Urrrgh. I really dropped the ball this time, didn’t I?